Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters

by G. Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst

In their hit books Notice and Note and Reading Nonfiction, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst showed teachers how to help students become close readers. Now, in Disrupting Thinking they take teachers a step further and discuss an on-going problem: lack of engagement with reading. They explain that all too often, no matter the strategy shared with students, too many students remain disengaged and reluctant readers. The problem, they suggest, is that we have misrepresented to students why we read and how we ought to approach any text - fiction or nonfiction.

With their hallmark humor and their appreciated practicality, Beers and Probst present a vision of what reading and what education across all the grades could be. Hands-on-strategies make it applicable right away for the classroom teacher, and turn-and-talk discussion points make it a guidebook for school-wide conversations. In particular, they share new strategies and ideas for helping classroom teachers:

--Create engagement and relevance
--Encourage responsive and responsible reading
--Deepen comprehension
--Develop lifelong reading habits

“We think it’s time we finally do become a nation of readers, and we know it’s time students learn to tell fake news from real news. It’s time we help students understand why how they read is so important,” explain Beers and Probst. “Disrupting Thinking is, at its heart, an exploration of how we help students become the reader who does so much more than decode, recall, or choose the correct answer from a multiple-choice list. This book shows us how to help students become the critical thinkers our nation needs them to be."

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Adult, School, Books About Books, Grad School

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2017

Reviews

[A. Somers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone who teaches reading or language arts, or anyone who assigns reading passages for homework, or ... well in short for anyone who reads! The idea of disrupting our own thinking in order to bring about change and teaching "responsible" reading are just what we need in light of our current political and social climate. We need to teach these skills now more than ever.
Have a pencil handy so you can jot down notes and be prepared for the urge to read passages aloud to anyone that will listen!

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thought the book was interesting, I don't think I was the proper audience for it. As a teacher, I have a lot, if not unlimited, freedom to teach what I want, how I want. A lot of the concepts in the book are things that I have to freedom to consider, but maybe take for granted. The BHH framework was a good reminder of how students should approach texts, but there was nothing in the book that was really groundbreaking or new for me. I also felt that there weren't many immediate takeaways of concepts or ideas I could apply to my classroom. Instead, the book just presented ideas to ponder (which is fine, too). I did enjoy the chapters on independent reading, which I could use as support for my department's independent reading methods. Overall, I felt this book was geared more towards elementary or middle grades. You can definitely apply the ideas to secondary grades, but the focus seems to be on younger students.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best professional development books I've ever read! Beers and Probst disrupted my thinking about how I teach reading and have given me a lot to reflect on before I begin a new year of teaching in the fall. The book has a natural flow and is an easy, quick read, but the message within is powerful.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a professional development book study.

While I think the observations are interesting, I don't think they are "disruptive"--any more than a kid wearing two different colored socks is "disruptive." I suppose they are equally disruptive, which is to say not-so-much.

The idea of getting students to read and make connections to what they think and feel is commonplace. It's even in my current curriculum.

Perhaps where I have the greatest difficulty with this book is the assumption that differentiating instruction to spend more time on the basics before taking flight with the extensions and critical thinking part of reading is "racism"(111). Critical thinking needs development, support, and scaffolding in many student populations. That scaffolding may consist of checking for comprehension. This does not mean that instructors are intentionally denying students access to education. It certainly doesn't mean that teachers are trying to prohibit thinking (which was a claim made in one of the video links attached to the text).

Another difficulty I have with this book is the idea that student choice is better than shared texts. There is a place for both, but since students don't generally share texts or read outside of the genre and authors they are familiar with, it makes sense that a teacher would be required to encourage students to read outside of their comfort zone. Then, when a whole community of learners is sharing the text, the conversations and understandings (or misunderstandings) can be shared as a class.

I also take issue with the crisis mentality related to the drop-off of independent reading in older readers. I do not believe that this trend is permanent or irreversable. The demands of middle school, both social, psychological and physical may make introspection and extended time with books more difficult to maintain than it was in elementary school. This does not mean that a student is not growing (let alone "changing"!). We need to respect our students where they are and help them access books with which they may not be familiar. A successful reader reads things that are difficult and even that he or she may disagree with or --heaven forfend!-- not like. Then that reader articulates the reasons for this and leaves with a wider perspective and a greater connection to a broader spectrum of people instead of just the members of his or her book club of like minded readers.

None of this will be accomplished when we direct kids to read only the things that interest them or support their current idea of how and why the world functions as it does. Disruption is not just about raising money for hungry kids in Africa. It's about understanding problems at home and how we all play a role in perpetuating or eradicating them. This is the kind of critical thinking I'd like my students to be able to do.

I'm not sure this book gets me any closer to that goal.

I guess my main problem with this book is its proclivity to point fingers and reach Good and Bad judgements. I think context is important. Best Practices aren't bad. Next Practices aren't necessarily Good. We need to look at what we're doing, consider what our goals are, and try to sort out how to make our practice further our goals. Change just for change's sake is pointless. Kinda like "disruptively" wearing different colored socks.

I do have high hopes for Notice and Note, however. With strategies to help students close read, they will start developing the habits of mind required for understanding a variety of issues on a deeper level, just as they will begin to understand their texts in a more meaningful way. That's my hope, anyway.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like Notice & Note and Reading Nonfiction, this is a must read if you are teaching reading. I've been sharing the BHH strategy with teachers in PD, and I've observed its implementation in the classroom. Amazing! Simple to use with kids and highly effective. I also love the chapters in the end about silent reading. We need to keep stressing the importance of providing kids with choice and time in reading!!

[Andrea Levin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is practical, grounded in research, and inspiring! (I laughed! I cried! I marked it up like crazy and made lists of how I will implement the ideas in my classes!) I recommended it to all people who are interested in helping young people become critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, and better citizens.

[Pernille Ripp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of respect for the authors and I loved the gathering of research, but if you have read their other work or the work of others, a lot of this will be repeat information. Very accessible though and liked the idea of book, head, heart.

[Kim Bahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of reflective thinking while reading this book. Reading should be disrupted with thinking so we can grow, discover, and change.

[Sarah Krajewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read Kylene Beers and Bob Probst's latest title, make it part of your summer reading! Just finished it today, and it will give any reader the courage to stand up for what our students need most: the opportunity to read to spark change. It will also get us teachers to change the way we think about teaching reading. I could say so much more, but I'll let you read it for yourself. It's worth it!

[Kris Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of feels like re-purposed content from previous Beers & Probst Heinemann publications for Scholastic. And if I wanted to visit the Scholastic website every two minutes then I WOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THE PAPERBACK EDITION.

[Tena Edlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was preaching to the choir; I was already 100% on board with its ideas before I even started it. It was a good reminder for many concepts, but it was also inspirational for other concepts, especially as I dive back into the ELA world that I've technically been out of for many years. I especially liked the section about SSR and rethinking that label as FSR: Focused Sustained Reading. Because of some bad press and an audience (and society?) quick to turn against something without doing research, SSR has faced challenges. Anyone actually doing their research knows that UNSUPPORTED independent reading is not shown to make a difference in reading scores. However, good teachers support their students' reading in a million ways, and this book reminded me of the whys and the hows of that support. A label change seems like a small thing, but if it silences the naysayers, I'm all for it. This book, along with all my research this summer, makes me so excited to fully re-immerse myself into the ELA world.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good reminder of what is important when it comes to teaching reading. With the recent focus on test scores, teachers may be pressured into teaching approaches that don't really cultivate a love for reading. Rather than check students' knowledge about the story, we should be exploring how stories connect to students' lives. Lots of inspiring anecdotes and suggestions for creating a more student-centered reading classroom are provided. This is well worth reading for teachers.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic look at what matters in reading and in school. This book empowers teachers to move past the test and towards helping students grow as people, scholars, and citizens. Kids solving problems in the world. Creating and exploring questions. Cutting back on tests and the effect it has on students. Worthwhile goals of education - becoming confident, passionate, lifelong learners.

[J & J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how to rate this fairly because although the information was solid, there was nothing I didn't already know. It was a good reminder of reading strategies and more importantly that students/kids just need to read...adding only 10 mins of reading to each day will boost reading prowess significantly. When we consider just 10 minutes to reach a common goal, it's definitely obtainable.

[Michelle Bruewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did make me think about how I choose to teach reading—definitely going to disrupt my thinking (pun intended) for how reading should be in the classroom. Had a lot of interesting ideas, but this was more of a conversation of ideas and experiences with teaching, and I enjoyed that change of pace.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disrupting Thinking disrupted my thinking! I loved that it caused me to stop and think about how books change me and my thinking. And this is one of the reasons I love reading so much. Reading is an act that constantly changes me as I react and respond to my reading. I love the BHH (Book, Heart, Head) framework, which calls on me to ask students (or myself):
Book - What's in the book? What's this about? What did I notice?
Head - What's in your head? What surprised me? What confused me? What did I wonder?
Heart - What did you take to heart? What life lessons did I learn?

While I was reading Disrupting Thinking, there was a passage that reminded me of a quote I have saved on my goodreads profile - "...the notion of the classroom as an intellectual community gets lost when conference rooms by the principal's office get turned into data rooms - rooms in which walls, floor to ceiling, are covered with test scores of every child in the school - and "Days until the TEST" banners greet students and parents as they enter the school. That, at the very least, suggests that the school is more interested in making sure students pass a test than in creating an intellectual community." I looked it up on goodreads and laughed because this quote was from Notice and Note, another book I loved, also written by the authors of Disrupting Thinking.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, I wish that goodreads had a half star feature. If they did, I would rate this book 3.5 stars because this book is, in my opinion, slightly above average but not quite four star level.

I received this book from the Title 1 ELA specialist at my school on our planning day. I have heard really good things about both authors and their work in the literacy field. I found a lot of value from this book but in the long run it fell short. I started to become disillusioned about halfway through when in one of the chapters, Beers describes a detailed writing frame she gave a friend of her college age daughter to help this friend through freshman college classes. This type of text analysis drives me bonkers and seems to be the exact thing that promotes "Readicide," as described in Kelly Gallagher's book of the same name.

Other times Beers and Probst hit the nail smack on the head when it comes to how reading should be promoted and structured in schools. I loved those sections, especially the parts where they advocated for students in challenging socioeconomic circumstances.

In the end, the lack of concrete details as well as an inconsistent commitment to true "Book Love" make this book an average read for me and one that I may not keep in my collection long term.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

So let me start out this review by saying I have complete respect and appreciation for Kylene Beers contributions to ELA (and other HS teachers). I loved her text, When Kids Can't Read what Teachers Can Do. That being said though, I really did not think that her latest Disrupting Thinking was all that earth-shattering. The basic premise is that kids need to realize how texts affect/change them as people because too many students only look at the surface level of the text or "what's in the text". Beers gives a good 3 step process: Book. Head. Heart and there are a few things that I can use next year but overall it was a quick read that didn't really impart anything truly profound like the last text I read OR Book Love by Penny Kittle. Overall, I would say read this book if, as a teacher you haven't read much professionally, but in my mind you wouldn't be missing much if you read other works. In my mind, this would have been better served as a longer article or journal.

[Emily Eitniear · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opening perspective into teaching at different levels. I really enjoyed the way they demonstrated the same issue but at different age levels to show how and where our thinking has changed.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, reading a Beers and Probst book now is an exquisite torture...because I cannot use their books to inform my classroom, to try out their ideas, to become a better teacher and reach my students.

But it's a torture I endure because their books are so wise and clear...they have one goal with all their work: give students tools, and step back. Well, more than one: create powerful readers who CHOOSE to read for a multitude of purposes.

And it's dedicated to Chris Crutcher and Teri Lesesne. Two other YAL heroes.

The book in a nutshell? Ask students about what the book says, how that reflects in their head, and in their heart. Bring the heart and response back into the classroom, encourage personal reading and growth.

They always give strong, research-based suggestions for classroom teachers who ask, as we always do, about silent reading vs oral reading, about reading the same classroom book, about choice, about deciding what successful reading looks like. They give us the tools in this world of reading-to-test, to stand up and say, "Um...that's not the best way to create readers. Let's look at some of these other ways. And the important question: WHY are we teaching reading? And the ultimate questions: How do readers contribute to society? How do they see the world differently? How can we give students THOSE tools for their lives?


I highlighted and stickied the book, as I always do. And I wished I had students to go practice on.

[Dona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beers and Probst seek to help teachers transform their students from mere decoders to responsive readers who are "compassionate, willing to imagine, possibly to feel, always think about what others--author, characters, and other readers--are experiencing and saying so that [they] may better understand." These are readers "who allow [their] thinking "to be disrupted, altered, changed" by their reading. In the course of the book, Beers promotes not only student choice but also a more organic (yet guided) approach to eliciting authentic response from students than canned questions can provide. She promotes dialogic talk (in which the speaker [read teacher] becomes listener and listener becomes speaker and that through give-and-take other ideas might emerge” over monologic talk (in which the teacher is “authoritative and presumes that the goal of the listener is to agree with or learn from the speaker."

Beers provides concrete strategies (reading signposts for fiction and non-fiction and conferencing suggestions) to help teachers reach their students on a more equal, authentic level.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As our schools adopt ELA curriculum that demands students to extract and analyze excerpts of texts in order to score well on state mandated tests and makes reading a mechanical process, Beers and Probst remind us that to read is to change and cause change— in ourselves and our community. Their book invites teachers to put life back into reading and to teach students how reading can change their own perspectives on issues and themselves. It is especially important today as we have leaders who work diligently to mislead the public and cater to its basest fears. We need readers who can imagine how others feel, question the statements being made, know when they are reading fake news, and change their minds when confronted with new evidence. Beers and Probst provide some simple, easy to implement strategies that all teachers can incorporate into their classroom for students of all ages and abilities.

[Nikki Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

"To change, we have come to believe, is the fundamental reason for reading. And this is what we need to teach our students."

This is the exact book I needed at this moment in my career to help this specific generation of students. It addresses some of the issues I've been wrestling with as far was text and reading are concerned - mostly, how to get kids to question and critique what they read so that it has relevance to them. Readers need to be responsive, responsible, and compassionate. Love the emphasis that they must be all of these, not just one. Given me great reflective insights for a new semester.

[Jill Dater · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book felt more like a rationale for independent choice reading as opposed to the Notice and Note strategies (their earlier books). However, there was some good statistics that would help give many good reasons for doing all the things that I am already doing in my classroom such as independent reading, choice, check ins, etc....

[TJ Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much agree with this wonderfully honest and true book of teaching philosophy. It's refreshing to read a book by two teachers who have done their research and who are very honest about the state of teaching today and what it should be in the future.

This book will most assuredly live on in my classroom and, hopefully, my students.

[Jennifer]

Emphasizes the value of being a critical reader (not just for recall, but for processing, responding, reacting). Looking at text 3 ways - Book (what did you notice, what surprised you), Head (what do you think about what you noticed), Heart (how did this text change/affect you)

[Sarah Zerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved their discussion of whether or not we should teach whole-class texts.

[Michele Knott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would be a great book to use with teachers who are ready for a change from whole class novels, whole class teaching. Touches upon a lot of great thinking without going into minute detail.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beers begins the book by sharing comments from a college student who was unprepared for the type of reading expected of him at the college level. Beers provides plenty of reasons for her premise of HOW we read is what truly matters. She challenges us to recognize "fake readers" who go through the motions but are not really reading. I have lamented for years and years that we destroy children's love of reading by using reading strategies such as post-it notes, highlighting, questions, projects, and tests. I understand that students need these strategies to become better readers, but we cannot stop with just these strategies. (Don't even get me started about Accelerated Reader and how much I detest that program.) Even as an adult, I have had beloved books ruined for me in post-graduate classes because of the activities professors forced me to engage in to prove I had read the book. Beers reminds us that it's not just about answering questions; it's about us being able to develop our own questions based on what we read. It's about being a responsive and responsible reader.

A responsive reader is alert to his/her responses as s/he reads and also to others' responses. The text should awaken emotions and inspire thoughts in us. A responsible reader does not simply feel (respond) but also acts on this personal response or awakening by examining her feelings, assessing the author's purpose and bias, and pondering information (or evidence) the author uses in the story. All of this leads to the reader drawing conclusions and engaging in reasoning to understand the personal response s/he experienced. Readers must examine both what they feel and think AND what the text says. This helps us to become compassionate readers, the third criteria we aspire to be when we read.

Beers is not negating decoding, fluency, and close reading. She does, however, state that this is not enough because we need to help our students understand the power that the text has in our own lives. (Hmmm.. I am reminded of the 1970s book When Porcupines Make Love.)

Beers does not simply preach; she provides strategies, studies, charts, examples, and case studies. Developing questions as we read is important. Beers commends the experts who have provided teachers with strategies to help students understand the text. But this is not enough; we must require more. Beers proposes we use the BHH Reading method (Book, Head, Heart) and that we use fix-up strategies for when we are confused about what we are reading, and that we refer to signposts for fiction and nonfiction (easy bookmarks for students to keep in their books while reading). I liked how Beers and Probst use the framework when they read Mary Oliver's poem The Journey. It's a great model, and teachers should think about modeling their own reading for their students. Beers' information can be summed up quiet easily - give students choice for what they read, increase the number of texts we ask them to read, engage in read alouds, teach strategies that students can use while reading, model thinking aloud so students can engage in this while reading, and encourage classroom discussion about what they read.

I want to give a big shoutout to the chapter on silent reading in class. All freshman English classes in my school have been following Kittle's Book Love concept and offering silent reading in class (along with reading ladders, conferencing, and much more). Despite what they are reporting as a successful program, there are some who fault this practice. I like that Beers shows the pros and cons of silent reading, citing what has been done over the years and what has worked and what should be changed. I would love to use just this chapter as a springboard to discussion about silent reading.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great book for teachers looking to move away from prescriptive reading instruction, but if you’ve done a student-centered approach for a while (or are a Disrupt Texts educator), a lot of this is old hat. It feels more focused on helping teachers shift their paradigms than providing actual strategies. Still, I appreciate the BHH framework and am looking forward to using it this fall.